Genomic evaluation of male reproductive adaptations and responses to dehydration in Peromyscus eremicus (Cactus mouse)

Research elucidating the genetic architecture of physiological mechanisms enabling survival and reproduction in extreme environments is becoming prominent in evolutionary biology. The desert, in particular, poses numerous challenges for its endemic species, and mammals (and often, rodents) have been the focus for survival adaptations pertaining to water-limitation. However, desert rodent adaptation research has focused predominantly on survival, while potential physiological reproductive adaptations to dehydration have received less attention, aside from research evaluating water as reproductive cue. The fact that we do not know the physiological mechanisms enabling reproduction during dehydration is surprising, as desert rodents must possess adaptations to successfully reproduce in their water-limited habitats. The cactus mouse (Peromyscus eremicus), a desert-specialist in the Southwest United States, is the focus of my genetic exploration of reproductive adaptations to dehydration. My dissertation describes three research studies that 1) characterize male cactus mouse reproductive tissue transcriptomes and find signatures of positive selection in these tissues relative to other rodent species, 2) describe differential expression of genes responding to water-limitation within testes, providing candidate genes for future studies exploring the impacts of acute and chronic drought on P. eremicus reproduction, and 3) generate a seminal vesicle proteome representative of proteins present in hydrated and dehydrated conditions experienced by the cactus mouse. These three studies contribute comprehensive genetic data critical to future research exploring the effects of water-limitation on reproduction as well as the genetic mechanisms for potential male reproductive adaptations in this desert-adapted rodent. Research on desert adaptations is particularly timely, as climate change will result in more frequent stochastic drought events and elevated temperatures. These increasing abiotic shifts will exacerbate clinical challenges for global health; thus, an enhanced understanding of mammalian desert-specialist adaptations may improve our ability to address these physiological demands in humans

A comparative study on the Sayan languages (Turkic; Russia and Mongolia)

In this study, the grammar and basic lexicon of the Sayan languages (Turkic), spoken in Russia and Mongolia, are compared by means of the features found in WALS (Dryer & Haspelmath 2013). The main goal of this thesis is to provide a comparative study on four Sayan languages, namely Tuvan, Tofa, Soyot, and Dukha. Tuba, the fifth Sayan language, became extinct before it was described and studied and, therefore, it is excluded from the linguistic study. The data in this study came from the grammars by Anderson & Harrison (1999 and 2006, Tuvan), Rassadin (1971, 1978 and 2010, Tofa and Soyot) and Ragagnin (2011, Dukha). Another question that will be discussed in this thesis is the reason why Tuvan is not moribund, while its sister and daughter languages are. To answer this question, I looked at the history of the Sayan peoples and their current social status. Of all Sayan languages, Tofa showed the least Mongolian influences. This is probably because the Tofa people moved away from the Tuva Basin before the Mongols had a linguistic influence on the Tuvan language. Together with data from the grammars and historical information, a Sayan tree diagram is reconstructed. From the history and the current social status of the Sayan peoples could be concluded that the number of speakers and isolation together form the reason why Tuvan is not extinct and flourishes, while the other Sayan languages struggle to survive

Plasma Leptin in Relation to Breeding Stage, Season, Estrogen and Photoperiod in Female European Starlings(Sturnus Vulgaris)

Leptin, a protein hormone secreted by adipocytes, has wide-ranging physiological functions, including regulation of feeding behavior and body weight, and effects on reproduction and immune function. Our first study demonstrated seasonal and breedingstage patterns of variation in plasma leptin-like immunoreactivity in free-living female starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), which did not parallel changes in body mass and composition. Plasma leptin-like immunoreactivity was elevated from egg-laying through clutch completion, decreased during incubation and chick-rearing, and was elevated in non-breeders in November. Next, we manipulated wild-caught females to determine whether elevated plasma leptin-like immunoreactivity is associated with a) seasonal, photoperiodic (long day length-dependent) reproductive development, or b) elevated estrogen required for egg production. Plasma leptin-like immunoreactivity was unaffected by photoperiod or estradiol treatment; however, because estradiol treatment on 18L:6D only incompletely stimulated the reproductive axis, we cannot unequivocally exclude a link between elevated plasma estradiol and plasma leptin-like immunoreactivity during egg-production in free-living birds

lowENSMgoLIST.txt

PANTHER GO List Results for relatively high WET expression gene lis

DTEno-matchBLASTnSequences

This markdown file includes the BLASTnSequencing results for the DTE analysis (the sequences without matches

NEWESTFinalMUS

Gene ID by Transcript ID matri

lowENSM.csv

Accession ID file for PANTHER: relatively high WET expression gene lis

good.BINPACKER.cdhit.fasta.dammit.gff3

Dammit gff3 file of annotation Dammit gff3 file of annotatio

good.BINPACKER.cdhit.fasta

Optimized final un-annotated transcriptom